Dad's Army (Stage Show)

Dad's Army (Stage Show)

"Dad's Army: A Nostalgic Music and Laughter Show of Britain’s Finest Hour" was a 1975 stage adaptation of the BBC sitcom "Dad's Army". Following the success of the television programme, the stage show was commissioned by Bernard Delfont in the spring of 1975.

Jimmy Perry and David Croft adapted material from the original scripts, making changes to allow for the absence of location filming. The show was in the style of a revue, with songs, familiar scenes from the show, and individual turns for cast members. It was produced by Roger Redfarn, who shared the same agent as the writers.

Cast

Most of the principal "Dad's Army" cast transferred with it, with the exception of John Laurie who was replaced by Hamish Roughead. Following James Beck’s death two years earlier, Walker was played by John Bardon. Clive Dunn was replaced for half the tour by Jack Haig (David Croft’s original first choice for the role of Corporal Jones on television). Jeffrey Holland, who went on to star in several later Croft sitcoms, also had a number of roles in the production. [Richard Webber "Dad’s Army: A Celebration", (Virgin Publishing 1997), pp.178-180, ISBN 0-7535-0307-7]

Dates

The show opened at the Fortune Theatre, Billingham, County Durham on Thursday 4th September 1975 for a two-week tryout. A local critic wrote of the event:

"The special bond of affection between cast and audience helped each item spark along" "Kevin Eason" [Article in Hartlepool Mail 9th September 1975]

After cuts and revisions, the show transferred to London’s West End and opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre on 2 October 1975. On the opening night there was a surprise appearance by Chesney Allen, singing the old Flanagan and Allen song "Hometown" with Arthur Lowe.

The show ran in the West End from 4th October to 21st February, 1976, where it was disrupted twice by bomb scares, and then toured the country until 4 September 1976. The stage show was later revived, billed as "Dad’s Army—The Musical", and toured Australia and New Zealand in 2004-2005, starring Jon English.

1976 UK tour dates

*Opera House, Manchester: Tuesday 23rd March, 1976 until Saturday 10th April, 1976
*Theatre Royal, Nottingham: Monday 12th April, 1976 until Saturday 1st May, 1976
*Alhambra Theatre, Bradford: Monday 3rd May, 1976 until Saturday 15th May, 1976
*Hippodrome, Birmingham Monday: 17th May, 1976 until Saturday 22nd May, 1976
*Pavilion Theatre, Bournemouth: Monday 24th May 1976 until Saturday 5th June, 1976
*Winter Gardens, Blackpool: Monday 7th June, 1976 until Saturday 19th June, 1976
*Theatre Royal, Newcastle: 22nd June 1976 until Saturday 3rd July, 1976
*Richmond Theatre, Surrey: Monday 12th July, 1976 until Saturday 24th July, 1976
*Theatre Royal, Brighton: Monday 26th July, 1976 until Saturday21st August, 1976
*Theatre Royal, Bath: Monday 23rd August, 1976 until Saturday 4th September 1976

Running order

The show's running order was

Act One

*"Scene 1" Who do you think you are kidding Mr Hitler?
*"Scene 2" Put that light out
*"Scene 3" When can I have a banana again?
*"Scene 4" Command Post
*"Scene 5" Private Pike's Dream
*"Scene 6" Cliff top: Lance Corporal Jones stands guard
*"Scene 7" Battle of Britain
*"Scene 8" Choir practice

Interval

Act Two

*"Scene 9" The song that we would rather forget
*"Scene 10" Unarmed combat
*"Scene 11" Tinpan alley
*"Scene 12" Morris Dance
*"Scene 13" A Nightingale sang in Berkley Square
*"Scene 14" Radio personalities of the 40s
*"Scene 15" The beach
*"Scene 16" Finale [An LP of the stage show entitled "Dad's Army" was released in 1975 by Warner Brothers, catalogue number K 56186]

2007 stage show

In April 2007 a new "Dad's Army" stage show began a tour of Britain starring former Eastenders actor Leslie Grantham as Walker and Emmerdale's Peter Martin as Mainwaring. [Cavendish, D " [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/09/29/btdad129.xml Don't panic! - Dad's Army on stage] " article in Daily Telegraph Arts Section p10 29th September 2007] It features two lost [ [http://www.dadsarmy.co.uk/lostepisodes.html Dad's Army Appreciation Society descriptions] ] episodes ("The Loneliness of the Long Distance Walker" and "A Stripe for Frazer") combined with two additional episodes "Room at the Bottom" (of which only a black and white version exists) and the famous episode "The Deadly Attachment". [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6566773.stm BBC entertainment news] ]

References

Bibliography

*Croft,D & Perry,J, "Dad's Army: the lost episodes". London: Virgin, 1998 ISBN 1852277572
*Pritchard,T: Stonehouse, "Dad's Army- an appreciation". Dad's Army Appreciation Society, 2004 ISBN 095477020X
*Webber,R, "Complete A-Z of Dad's Army". London Orion 2000 ISBN 0752818384


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